Mary Reid

You may have noticed some new signs as you drive across the boundary between Kingston and Surrey, indicating a Low Emission Zone.

For some reason the first ones to appear were placed as you drive OUT of Greater London into Surrey, which did strike me as odd, because the Zone applies to the London boroughs, not Surrey.

The zone comes into force at the beginning of next month and is basically a good idea.

All large vehicles travelling through must now meet the European standard for the emission of particulates. These are particles produced in the exhaust which are a serious health risk.

Anything that reduces air pollution is welcome, and I do hope that the Mayor for London has an effective system for identifying and chasing violators.

All newly built lorries will already meet the standard, but older ones may need to be adapted.

My only concern is that small businesses may be caught unawares, because the publicity on this scheme has not been as good as it could have been. And it will tend to be the smaller companies that will own the older vehicles that need to be adapted or even replaced.

I would be happier if the start date was delayed a little to give small businesses time to comply. But not for too long, as I'm really pleased that at last something is being done to improve the air quality across Greater London.